Brazil urges India to resume world trade talks

Xinhua Rio De Janeiro, Aug 13 (Xinhua) Brazil has urged India to resume the stalled Doha round of talks under the World Trade Organisation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Tuesday in a telephonic conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he (Lula) was willing to help in facilitating a world trade agreement by September this year.

Singh told Lula that he was disappointed at the result of the WTO trade talks in Geneva in July.

However, it was just a temporary setback rather than a failure, the prime minister noted.

Singh reaffirmed India’s position on keeping tariff on certain products, a policy, which became one of the main contentious points that led to the collapse of the July talks.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who was Brazil’s main negotiator in Geneva, said Lula felt that there still are chances of concluding the Doha Round.

In an interview with French daily “Le Monde” published Tuesday, Amorim said negotiations should be resumed as soon as possible.

“The lack of an agreement will mostly affect developing countries,” he said.

The Doha Round of trade talks started in 2001 with the aim of reducing global poverty by giving developing countries more access to world markets.

The latest negotiations collapsed in Geneva July 29 after nine days of intensive talks. Xinhua